Bucky Walters, baseball player, 1931-1950

Bucky Walters

Born: 4/19/1909 in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Died: 4/20/1991 in Abington, PA, USA

MLB Debut: 1931-09-17 | Final Game: 1950-07-23

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 180 lbs

Full name: William Henry Walters

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Biography

Bucky Walters, born in 1909, was a prominent pitcher in Major League Baseball, whose career spanned from 1931 to 1950. He became known for his impressive skills on the mound, finishing his career with a record of 198 wins and 160 losses. Walters posted an earned run average (ERA) of 3.3 and accumulated 1,107 strikeouts, showcasing his ability to dominate opposing batters. He also recorded 4 saves throughout his career, contributing to his team's success in various roles. Walters was selected as an All-Star six times, reflecting his status as one of the elite pitchers of his era. Walters played during a transformative period in baseball history, witnessing the transition from the deadball era to a more offensively charged game. His excellence was recognized when he received the TSN Guide MVP award, marking him as a standout player of his time. With his combination of skill, resilience, and competitive spirit, Bucky Walters left a lasting impact on the game, earning a place among the notable pitchers of his generation.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
198 160 428 398 242 42 4 3104.7 2990 1139 154 1121 1107 3.30 0

Career ERA 3.30 vs. league average 4.03 across their career seasons — 18.2% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1934 PHI NL 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 7.0 8 1 2 7 1.29 — 0.0
1935 PHI NL 9 9 24 22 8 2 0 151.0 168 70 68 40 4.17 4.35 (+4%) -2254.4
1936 PHI NL 11 21 40 33 15 4 0 258.0 284 122 115 66 4.26 4.59 (+7%) -1422.4
1937 PHI NL 14 15 37 34 15 3 0 246.3 292 130 86 87 4.75 4.34 (-9%) 126.6
1938 PHI NL 4 8 12 12 9 1 0 82.7 91 48 42 28 5.23 4.35 (-20%) -2017.5
1938 CIN NL 11 6 27 22 11 2 1 168.3 168 69 66 65 3.69 4.35 (+15%) 1870.8
1939 CIN NL 27 11 39 36 31 2 0 319.0 250 81 109 137 2.29 4.28 (+47%) 3254.5
1940 CIN NL 22 10 36 36 29 3 0 305.0 241 84 92 115 2.48 4.21 (+41%) 1626.2
1941 CIN NL 19 15 37 35 27 5 2 302.0 292 95 88 129 2.83 3.94 (+28%) 5318.8
1942 CIN NL 15 14 34 32 21 2 0 253.7 223 75 73 109 2.66 3.57 (+25%) 3468.3
1943 CIN NL 15 15 34 34 21 5 0 246.3 244 97 109 80 3.54 3.50 (-1%) -1692.1
1944 CIN NL 23 8 34 32 27 6 1 285.0 233 76 87 77 2.40 3.57 (+33%) 172.0
1945 CIN NL 10 10 22 22 12 3 0 168.0 166 50 51 45 2.68 3.67 (+27%) 325.3
1946 CIN NL 10 7 22 22 10 2 0 151.3 146 43 64 60 2.56 3.59 (+29%) -1109.8
1947 CIN NL 8 8 20 20 5 2 0 122.0 137 78 49 43 5.75 3.97 (-45%) -2806.6
1948 CIN NL 0 3 7 5 1 0 0 35.0 42 18 18 19 4.63 4.10 (-13%) -1195.5
1950 BSN NL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4.0 5 2 2 0 4.50 — 0.0

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
715 1966 227 477 99 16 23 234 12 114 303 0.243 0.286 0.344 0.630 -4081.8

Career AVG .243 vs. league average .268 across their career seasons — 9.6% below league average.

Career OBP .286 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — 14.9% below league average.

Career SLG .344 vs. league average .380 across their career seasons — 9.4% below league average.

Career OPS 0.630 vs. league average 0.716 across their career seasons — 12.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1931 BSN NL 9 38 2 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.211 — — — — 0.0
1932 BSN NL 22 75 8 14 3 1 0 4 0 2 18 0.187 .275 (-32%) .335 (-38%) .391 (-35%) .726 (-37%) -474.2
1933 BOS AL 52 195 27 50 8 3 4 28 1 19 24 0.256 .270 (-5%) .329 (-1%) .377 (+3%) .707 (+1%) 35.1
1934 BOS AL 23 88 10 19 4 4 4 18 0 3 12 0.216 .278 (-22%) .340 (-29%) .392 (+24%) .733 (avg) -82.3
1934 PHI NL 83 300 36 78 20 3 4 38 1 19 54 0.260 .278 (-6%) .340 (-9%) .392 (-2%) .733 (-5%) -82.3
1935 PHI NL 49 96 14 24 2 1 0 6 0 9 12 0.250 .279 (-11%) .342 (-8%) .399 (-27%) .742 (-18%) -299.7
1936 PHI NL 64 121 12 29 10 1 1 16 0 7 15 0.240 .283 (-16%) .349 (-20%) .404 (-10%) .753 (-14%) -367.7
1937 PHI NL 56 137 15 38 6 0 1 16 1 5 16 0.277 .276 (avg) .342 (-12%) .398 (-14%) .740 (-13%) -329.3
1938 PHI NL 15 35 6 10 2 0 1 3 1 1 5 0.286 — — — — 0.0
1938 CIN NL 36 64 10 9 1 0 0 5 0 7 18 0.141 .272 (-48%) .341 (-31%) .392 (-60%) .734 (-47%) 0.0
1939 CIN NL 40 120 16 39 8 1 1 16 1 5 12 0.325 .274 (+19%) .342 (+4%) .393 (+10%) .735 (+8%) 134.0
1940 CIN NL 37 117 11 24 3 0 1 18 2 4 14 0.205 .267 (-23%) .335 (-31%) .387 (-34%) .722 (-33%) -662.5
1941 CIN NL 39 106 6 20 6 0 0 9 0 7 13 0.189 .262 (-28%) .332 (-28%) .373 (-34%) .705 (-31%) -573.8
1942 CIN NL 40 99 13 24 6 1 2 13 0 3 13 0.242 .253 (-4%) .323 (-18%) .349 (+10%) .672 (-4%) -112.6
1943 CIN NL 37 90 11 24 7 1 1 12 1 6 15 0.267 .255 (+4%) .324 (-4%) .346 (+15%) .671 (+6%) 52.8
1944 CIN NL 37 107 9 30 4 0 0 13 0 8 18 0.280 .261 (+7%) .325 (+1%) .357 (-11%) .683 (-5%) -78.3
1945 CIN NL 24 61 11 14 3 0 3 8 2 3 14 0.230 .260 (-12%) .328 (-19%) .354 (+20%) .683 (+1%) -18.8
1946 CIN NL 24 55 6 7 2 0 0 5 2 4 12 0.127 .256 (-50%) .328 (-43%) .358 (-54%) .687 (-49%) -438.3
1947 CIN NL 20 45 3 12 2 0 0 4 0 2 13 0.267 — — — — 0.0
1948 CIN NL 7 15 1 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0.267 — — — — 0.0
1950 BSN NL 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
4 10 2 2 1 0 1 2 0 1 0.200

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1940 WS CIN 2 7 2 2 1 0 1 2 0 1 0.286
1939 WS CIN 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 2 4 3 0 29.0 21 9 7 12 2.79

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1940 WS CIN 2 0 2 2 0 18.0 8 3 6 6 1.50
1939 WS CIN 0 2 2 1 0 11.0 13 6 1 6 4.91

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 16 0 28 47 4 5
3B 184 0 176 341 35 38
OF 6 0 7 1 0 0
P 428 0 153 746 24 76

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1931 BSN 2B 3 0 2 9 0 2
1931 BSN 3B 6 0 5 13 1 0
1932 BSN 3B 22 0 17 44 6 8
1933 BOS 2B 7 0 16 23 2 3
1933 BOS 3B 43 0 42 84 8 11
1934 BOS 3B 23 0 33 54 9 6
1934 PHI 2B 3 0 9 7 1 0
1934 PHI 3B 80 0 74 136 11 12
1934 PHI P 2 0 0 3 0 1
1935 PHI 2B 2 0 1 7 1 0
1935 PHI 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1935 PHI OF 5 0 7 1 0 0
1935 PHI P 24 0 7 40 0 4
1936 PHI 2B 1 0 0 1 0 0
1936 PHI 3B 1 0 0 1 0 0
1936 PHI P 40 0 15 96 3 6
1937 PHI 3B 8 0 5 9 0 1
1937 PHI P 37 0 7 76 1 7
1938 PHI P 12 0 3 18 1 3
1938 CIN P 27 0 3 48 1 2
1939 CIN P 39 0 16 77 2 10
1940 CIN P 36 0 13 56 4 7
1941 CIN P 37 0 18 68 2 6
1942 CIN OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1942 CIN P 34 0 13 60 3 6
1943 CIN P 34 0 19 49 2 7
1944 CIN P 34 0 15 55 0 7
1945 CIN P 22 0 6 33 1 3
1946 CIN P 22 0 10 37 3 7
1947 CIN P 20 0 6 19 1 0
1948 CIN P 7 0 1 11 0 0
1950 BSN P 1 0 1 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 428
Second Base 17
Third Base 183
Left Field 5
Center Field 1

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1944 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1944 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1940 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1940 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1940 TSN All-Star P
1939 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1939 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1939 Most Valuable Player
1939 Pitching Triple Crown
1939 TSN All-Star P
1939 TSN Guide MVP

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1944 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 107.0 336 3
1943 Most Valuable Player NL 32th 1.0 336 0
1941 Most Valuable Player NL 28th 6.0 336 0
1940 Most Valuable Player NL 3rd 146.0 336 0
1939 Most Valuable Player NL 1st 303.0 336 18